Wild Mustangs with Alan Day

On today’s program we speak with Alan Day a rancher from Arizona who back in 1988 started a wild mustang government subsidized sanctuary in South Dakota. Alan cared for 1500 horses on 35,000 acres. It was the first project of its kind and there was much to learn. Mr. Day had run cattle on two other ranches one of them the Lazy B, a 175,000 acre ranch in Arizona.

But these were horses, wild mustangs in fact. To properly manage the land the horses would have to be moved from pasture to pasture. Did I mention they were wild mustangs? With careful consideration to the horses’ welfare, Alan developed a way of training the wild mustangs to follow his ranch horses from one pasture to another. Slowly he was able to gain their trust and the horses thrived on his ranch.

Alan Day has written a book, The Horse Lover, A Cowboy’s Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs, chronicling the events leading up to the creation of Mustang Meadows in South Dakota and detailing the day-to-day operations. Along the way, Alan intersperses stories of his own personal experiences with the horses in his life. From his first horse, Chico to Aunt Jemima, Alan has a world of stories to tell, some funny, some poignant, all captivating, about the partners he shared his work with.

You can find out more about Mr. Day by visiting his website www.thehorselover.com. It has a blog where Alan’s stories about horses, ranching and the West are being posted, and also where he will be speaking.

Special thanks to Alan Day and Lynn Wiese Sneyd for setting up this interview and giving us some insight into the world of wild mustangs. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of the manuscript and thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend the read!

Thanks for listening. We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Email us atjohn@whoapodcast.com

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The Team Roping Podcast

I’ve been lucky enough to get a few freelance writing assignments. For my latest article I had an opportunity to do a sidebar about team roping in Bakersfield with champion Team Roper Denny Watkins. Denny made it to the NFR 19 consecutive years. He still ropes competitively. He also teaches roping to ropers of all levels. Denny offers a great insight to the word of team roping and with 40+ years of experience he has a ton of stories to tell.

Once again, it was an impromtu interview just before one of Denny’s Team Roping practices. You’ll hear some background noise (sorry) of him getting his horses ready to work. Denny talks about his Dad and his early years with horses. Then, Denny tells the story of how he got into team roping. Along the way you’ll hear some stories about his years at the NFR. And, you will also get some insight into the world of team roping, how the scoring is set up and how money is earned.

Denny has a series of short instructional videos on Vimeo VOD and Youtube. These videos offer offer hints and tips every team roper can use. Most of these videos are less than 2 minutes. They are designed so you can watch them on your phone before an event or practice. they can improve your team roping.

Polocrosse with Paul Johnson

I first met Paul Johnson at the Campdraft event held in Kiowa, Colorado in August 2013. Paul was there to try his hand at campdrafting. A longtime polocrosse player, Paul likes the high speed pursuit of both sports. Paul Johnson is from McDade, Texas. Paul has been involved in polocrosse for many years, has written a book, and produced a DVD on the sport. Polocrosse is a high speed horse competition that is very popular in Australia. There are pockets of players in the US and its polocrosse play is on the rise. The game is played with three horses on a team. Each player has his job. Paul explains those jobs and tells us how the game is played and scored.

We also get Paul to talk about the qualities he looks for in a good horse. Paul has spent quite some time playing and coaching the game and offers his insights. In fact, Paul has made a training DVD. In it Paul takes three horses and three players on a journey. From initial contact to first polocrosse competition, you see it all. Learn how Paul’s polocrosse teamed fared.

One note at a point in the interview we have a few technical problems, but we got them resolved and carry on. There is a little change in the audio quality. Sorry about that…

Our Android App

Also, you learn that we have a new app. Yes folks, The Whoa Podcast Android app is available in the Amazon Android App store. Show your support for the podcast and never miss another episode. Follow this link:

Equestrian Jumping Lines with Lori VanSickel

Lori VanSickel is an eventing and Hunter/Jumper trainer and owner of Flying V Farms. She has been teaching equestrian jumping for many years. Lori has ridden and trained horses for jumping most of her life. Now, headquarted in Bakersfield, California, Lori focuses not only on jumping, but equitation as well. On today’s show Lori demonstrates how to use an exercise called gymnastic jumping lines to improve your equitation and your horses athletic ability. We take one horse through the course several times. You can hear and see the progression. Each time, after a satisfactory run, the challenge is increased.

But, before we get into the action, Lori’s twelve year old daughter, Kayla, gives me a tour around Flying V Farms. Because I know nothing about equestrian jumping (although I love to watch it), Kayla was patient enough to explain the intricacies of all the jumps. They have a great facility out at Flying V and a few months after the interview, Ranae and I went out to take a lesson. Lori taught us a great deal in the 60 minutes. She gave us many excellent tips and I can’t wait to go back for more.

We also produced a video that more clearly demonstrates the use of gymnastic jumping lines and how to use them correctly. You can find the video at: Gymnastic Jumping Lines

Our Android App On Amazon

It took us awhile, but we finally got it. Now listening to the show just got easier. Help support the show. Checkout our new Whoa Podcast Android App at the Amazon Store: